How Can I Put it? You Put Me On
by alex-of-macedonia
Summary: A version of what happened at Pukegate. Aubrey-centric, no pairing. Chaubrey friendship.


It meant the world to her when Aubrey's father gave her this really nice, obviously expensive watch. He'd had the cursive capital 'B' from the Barden Bellas logo etched on to the dial, and _'good job, A, love, Dad'_ etched in cursive on the backside.

She had told him that she'd been given the first solo in the National Competition with her a capella group, and when she met him for lunch the next day, a wrapped box was sitting at her place setting. The last time he had given her something so nice as a reward, she had won first place in her third grade talent show by playing an especially challenging flute piece. She still wore the necklace, which was a simple silver chain with a silver, diamond-shaped pendant.

This was going to be her first solo with the Bellas, and he was so proud of her. His pride only grew when the blonde announced that she and her best friend had been named co-captains for the next school year.

"You're going to do great things, Bree. I always knew you had it in you," he said warmly, as he reached across the table and squeezed her hand. She beamed with joy. Finally, her father was seeing that she wasn't a failure, that she really _could_ do anything she put her mind to. _Finally_, he was acknowledging her successes.

—-

When she and the rest of the Bellas took the stage at Lincoln Center, she saw her father sitting to the left, about halfway back in the rows. He hadn't told her that he would be there, and she hadn't expected him to show. Of course she had sent him the invite, just as she'd always let him know when and where she was performing or competing. Through all of her high school plays, the debate tournaments, and the softball games, he had never shown the slightest interest. She'd gotten used to giving him a play-by-play over dinner, and later over the phone, and she got accustomed to his halfhearted grunts that showed he was 'listening'. Actually seeing him in the audience threw her off, but it filled her chest with a sense of encouragement. _Maybe Daddy really does care_, she thought.

That's when Alice's 'pep talk' rushed back to the forefront of her mind. _'Don't eff up your solo.' _Well, now that her father was actually watching, she couldn't mess up. She wasn't lying when she'd replied to Alice, _'My dad always says, "If you aren't here to win, get the hell out of Kuwait."' _It would be one thing if she failed and just had to tell him about it later. She could spin it so that it wouldn't seem as bad as it was.

With him watching, though…. She felt that familiar gurgle in her stomach, reacting to the stress. _It's just butterflies. You're nervous, and it'll go away_, she tried to tell herself.

Alice blew the pitch pipe, signaling the beginning of their set. "One, two, three, four…." The women began harmonizing together as their captain sang the first notes of "The Sign" by Ace of Base.

Everything was going perfectly. They had this.

As Aubrey's cue in the choreography came for her to take the microphone, she looked to her best friend to make sure this was all really happening. Chloe's smile reassured her that she could do this.

She _could_ do this. This was her shining moment.

"I saw the sign, and it opened up my eyes…." She was doing so well. She felt her voice ringing loud and true, her dancing was spot on, and she was going to be a factor in the Bellas winning this year.

_Daddy will be proud_.

As her dancing faced her back toward the audience, she caught sight of their reactions to the performance: people were checking their phones, stretching, and worst of all….

She shouldn't have looked into the audience. Especially not toward her father. It was time for her big finish on her solo, and now all she could see was the man she tried so hard to impress, her father, sitting there with his chin on his fist, looking like he wished he had never come.

_Keep it together, Posen. Ten more seconds, and you can fade back into the background. Keep it together. You can cry after. Keep it—-_

"I saw the —" The stress had built up too much and exploded out of her as she opened her mouth for the final note.

The rest of the Bellas immediately stopped what they were doing, frozen in confusion and disbelief. Horrified, Aubrey couldn't move either. She saw her father stand up and rush out of the auditorium, not even looking back at her to see if she was okay.

—-

The next few hours were a blur, but what the blonde could remember was getting chewed out by Alice, being comforted by Chloe, and getting a curt text message from her father asking her to return the watch, since she didn't deserve it anymore.

That was the last she saw of her father, until she looked down at his cold, uncaring face lying in a casket three months later.


End file.
